Thousands of Texans are getting tested every day for coronavirus, and the people who do those tests are getting tired
Dr. Rodney E. Rohde is the program chair for the Clinical Laboratory Science program at Texas State University and says technicians, from those with associates degrees to doctors are unbelievably busy. Before the pandemic, they were performing about 13 billion tests a year. That has gone up 600 million a year due to Covid-19 tests. Rohde says "That's the highest volume of medical activity in the lives of Americans."
Rohde says lab tests such tests drive about two thirds of medical decision. "These guys have been working their tales off for about a year and a half. They are used to, somewhat, this kind of workload because there has been a shortage in last 20 to 30 years, but it has come to a head. It's just unbelievably putting pressure on the profession."
He says they are in a crisis mode. "I've heard some of the best colleagues and alumni that I have are considering moving to different areas of healthcare or quitting. It is a scary, scary thing to think about."
Recently the American Society for Clinical Pathology conducted a survey of laboratory professionals. It found just over 85 percent said they were burnt out.
More than 36% said there wasn't enough staffing, 31% say they have too heavy a workload and about 15 percent are unhappy due to a lack of respect and recognition. Unlike doctors, nurses and pharmacists, the public does not interact with laboratory workers.
Many of these tests are run in batches and many are automated but lab pros run those tests and prep them. There are only 337 thousand lab professionals in the nation. He says they are in a crisis mode and many are working almost non-stop and are considering leaving the profession.
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